Best Red Velvet Cake

A light chocolate cake with a moist, fluffy crumb and decadent

cream cheese frosting.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Servings: 10
Calories: 370 kcal
Author: John Kanell

Ingredients

For the Cake:

– ½ cup butter 113 grams, room temperature,
– 2 tsp vanilla extract 10mL
– 1 cup buttermilk 240ml, room temperature
– 1 tbsp vinegar 15mL
– 2 eggs room temperature (126g – 146g)
– 3 tbsp cocoa powder 15g
– 2 ½ cups flour 300g
– 1 ½ cups granulated sugar 300g
– 2 tsp powdered red food coloring
– 1 tsp kosher salt 6g
– 1 tsp baking soda 6g
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
– 3 sticks butter 340g, room temperature unsalted
– 1 ½ lb confectioners sugar 550g, sifted (doble if it’s stacked cake)
– 16 oz cream cheese 455g, room temperature
– 1 tsp vanilla extract 5mL
– 1 pinch kosher salt

Instructions

For the Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and cocoa powder three
6-inch cake pans.
2. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream your
room temperature butter. Add in sugar and mix on medium until
combined.
3. Add eggs in one at a time and beat. Add vanilla extract.
4. Add red food coloring and vinegar to the buttermilk.
5. Sift in cocoa powder to the butter mixture.
6. In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together.
7. Add ½ of the dry and ½ of the wet to the butter mixture until
combined.
8. Add the red buttermilk mixture and mix until combined.
9. Pour the batter into three prepared pans. Add any extra batter to
a cupcake paper. This will be used for the crumble. Add damp
baking strips.
10. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the centers are springy to
the touch. When done, let them cool in their pans for about 5
minutes, then dump them out onto a wire rack.
11. Bake the crumble cupcake for about 15-20 minutes.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1. Cream the butter. Sift confectioners sugar into a large bowl.

2. Add room temperature cream cheese to the creamed butter. Add
vanilla and a pinch of salt. Beat together.
3. Add the confectioners sugar in cups. Mix until combined. If you’re
wanting a stronger buttercream, keep adding more sifted
confectioners sugar until it’s stiff. Transfer buttercream to a piping
bag and snip off the tip.

For the Assembly:

1. To create the crumbs, you can either break up the cupcake by hand
or use a cheese grater. I find that using the grater gives you a more
consistent crumb for decorating.
2. Pipe a thick layer of cream cheese frosting between each layer.
Cover the cake in frosting.
3. Use a bench scraper and offset spatula to smooth out the cake.
Transfer to the fridge to chill for about 10 minutes or until the
frosting is a bit set. If you’re in a warm climate, let your cake chill
for even longer!
4. Using your hand, scoop crumbs onto the side and top of the cake
until it’s completely covered.
5. Arrange the flowers on top of the cake. Pipe in leaves using the
green buttercream.